Original air date: 11/28/2008
Krusty Krushers
Mr. Krabs enters SpongeBob and Patrick in a tag-team wrestling match for a chance to win $1,000,000, but they can do anything but fight.
"Krusty Krushers" contains examples of:
- Achilles' Heel: The champions may be better at wrestling in nearly every way than SpongeBob and Patrick, but if there is one thing they do not have that would be favorable, it would be the duo's indestructibleness. When the champions encounter something very hard, like Patrick's iron butt, they completely shatter when they touch it, which was the only time SpongeBob and Patrick managed to score a hit on them (by accident, no less).
- Ass Kicks You: SpongeBob and Patrick win the match thanks to Patrick's Iron Buns.
- Berserk Button: Mr. Krabs is absolutely livid when SpongeBob and Patrick do nothing to fight the champion wrestlers and let them beat them up.
- Chekhov's Skill: The Iron Bun.
- Continuity Nod: The finishing move causes Patrick to dream his iron butt exercise and defeat the wrestlers, like how Plankton's hypnotherapy cured SpongeBob's fear of Krabby Patties back in "Fear of a Krabby Patty".
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: A minor version of this. Once the match is finished, SpongeBob and Patrick are given a prize choice of either the money or a week at Wrestle Camp. They choose the latter, much to Mr. Krabs's dismay.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: When the heavyweight champions are first introduced, one of them tears the other one in half.
- High-Pressure Emotion: Seen briefly on Mr. Krabs when he's livid that Sponge and Pat are letting the wrestlers maul them.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Mr. Krabs chooses SpongeBob and Patrick of all people to compete in the wrestling match for him instead of someone who's actually muscular and can fight back like Sandy or Larry. To be fair, they do win at the end, but even that was unintentional.
- Idiot Ball: SpongeBob and Patrick have zero excuses to not fight the championship wrestlers and just let them maul them in various ways, when they actually did fight each other back in the Fry Cook Games. However, they did at least manage to defeat them thanks to Patrick's iron bun, but even then that was an accident.
- Idiot Houdini: Spongebob and Patrick don't even try to win, they just win by accident.
- Impact Silhouette: SpongeBob and Patrick each leave one in the wrestling ring when one of the wrestlers roars at them.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While Mr. Krabs was insufferable the whole episode, the audience was equally annoyed with how clueless Spongebob and Patrick were in the match and how they weren't even trying to win
- Laser-Guided Karma: SpongeBob and Patrick win the match and $1,000,000 much to Mr. Krab's joy, but before he can take it a second choice was given: a week at Wrestle Camp. Mr. Krabs attempts to deny, but SpongeBob and Patrick immediately accept the second choice due to being the ones who won the match, and Mr. Krabs loses out on the money prize as rightfully so for putting SpongeBob and Patrick's lives in danger for his own greed and very undeserving of the money because he was too scared to do the match himself.
- Literally Shattered Lives: When Patrick defeats the wrestlers with his Iron Buns, they shatter into little pieces.
- Negative Continuity: SpongeBob and Patrick do nothing to fight the wrestlers for the sake they're playing pretend; however in "The Fry Cook Games", they were able to grow muscular bodies and wrestle each other.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The wrestlers' finishing move is to lull SpongeBob and Patrick into a deep sleep and divebomb into them headfirst; by doing so, Patrick gets a dream of his Iron Bun workout, allowing him to unleash his steel butt and defeat the wrestlers.
- Pro Wrestling Episode: The episode sees SpongeBob and Patrick in a wrestling match, where they falsely believe they're just playing pretend.
- Suddenly Shouting: Mr. Krabs a couple of times. First, when he tries motivating SpongeBob and Patrick to win the match and to stop goofing off:SpongeBob: Did you need something, Mr. Krabs?
Mr. Krabs: Oh, did I need something? Hmm, let me think. Did I need something? (Angrily) Yes, I need something! I need you 2 to get back in there and show them who's boss! Show them what Short Order Boy and Pink Patty can really do!- Then this dialogue:SpongeBob: Mr. Krabs, we're having so much fun. Doesn't that make us winners?
Mr. Krabs: Actually... IT DOESN'T!
- Then this dialogue:
- This Is Gonna Suck: "Oh no. Not Iron Buns."
- Visual Pun: The wrestlers put SpongeBob and Patrick in a sleeper hold, which involves rocking the two to sleep like babies.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Mr. Krabs repeatedly to SpongeBob and Patrick when they enjoy all the pain the wrestlers give them without fighting back even once.
- Wingding Eyes: Mr. Krabs has dollar signs in his eyes when he hears about the big cash prize.
The Card
SpongeBob desperately wants Patrick's ultra-rare Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy trading card.
"The Card" contains examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch: At the comic book store, Patrick seems to be counting his money, but it turns out that he's actually looking at a book with big red numbers that fill up the pages.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment:Quincy: (after SpongeBob shows him his bank book) Nice...bunnies.
SpongeBob: I know, I know, it's so embarrassing. (whispers) I wanted the one with the kittens on it! - Blah, Blah, Blah: This is all Patrick hears when SpongeBob explains why he should take good care of the rare trading card.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: Patrick's teeth after he picks them with the rare trading card.
- Here We Go Again!: The ending has Patrick give the last four cards SpongeBob wanted to him, only to imply he intends to wreck the last four cards in his stupidity as well.
- Jerkass / Karma Houdini: Patrick made SpongeBob go through a lot of trouble, and he doesn’t receive any punishment for it.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: When SpongeBob asks Patrick why he walked into Goo Lagoon, Patrick's answer implies this:Patrick: SpongeBob, you can't always expect my usual brand of stupidity. I like to mix it up; keep you on your toes.
- Ocular Gushers: SpongeBob turns them on full blast when the rare trading card disintegrates.
- Overly Long Gag: SpongeBob spending all his money to buy all the card packs at the store; by the time there's only one pack left (the one with the rare card inside), he's completely broke.
- Padding: The episode starts with SpongeBob withdrawing money from the bank, which lasts one or two minutes. It's not important where SpongeBob gets the money to buy the cards, and this moment is never mentioned after it's over.
- Roadside Wave: When a boat drives through a mud puddle, SpongeBob worries that the rare trading card will get all muddy, so he jumps in front of Patrick and gets himself all muddy instead.
- Sadist Episode: The majority of the episode is seeing SpongeBob freak out at the constant danger and damage Patrick is doing to an extremely rare card because he wants to mix up how stupid he acts.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: All the worry and beatings SpongeBob endures results in the rare card he was looking for winds up ruined beyond repair... and Patrick just so happens to have the last four. At least he gives them to SpongeBob.
- Spice Up the Subtitles: A rare official example. In the official DVD releases of the episode, when Patrick loses the card getting the key to his house, SpongeBob's exclamation of "Dear Neptune!" is captioned as "Damn, Neptune!"
